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SUMNER HILL—The Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library (BPL) will receive $75,000 from the City for improvements in the next fiscal year, $50,000 short of what BPL trustees requested, but a full renovation remains on hold. That follows a tantalizing hint dropped by Mayor Thomas Menino in May, suggesting that the branch...

HYDE SQ.—The former owner of the Slice O’ Pie pizza shop and his ex-landlord have filed criminal complaints against each other for alleged larceny and threats following the shop’s abrupt shutdown in late May. Meanwhile, an ex-employee says the workers were never told the closure was coming and remain unpaid after losing their jobs....

Councilor wants school recycling bins Next time a student uses an empty water bottle as a basketball, City Councilor At-Large Felix Arroyo wants the target to be a recycling bin. Arroyo, a Jamaica Plain resident, has introduced a hearing order to bring single-stream recycling to the Boston Public Schools system, according to a press...

FOREST HILLS—Following strong community pressure, state Department of Transportation (MassDOT) officials posted traffic analyses and a peer review of the Casey Arborway project online last week. The peer review states that the traffic analysis done by the state’s team was “performed in a professional manner.” Some community and Design Advisory Group (DAG) members are...

Streetcar Wine & Beer, a new store focused on higher-end products from small producers, will hold its grand opening on July 14. Michael Dupuy, owner of the store at 488 Centre St. at the corner of Kingsboro Park, said the starting inventory will include an emphasis on “Old World” wines from such places as...

The Boston Public Schools’ (BPS) Summer Food Service Program is once again offering free breakfast and lunch to youngsters this summer. “It’s a great program that kids don’t have to be signed up for,” said Debra Korzec-Ramirez, the nutrition education coordinator for BPS and a JP resident. “They just go in and get the...

EGLESTON SQ.—Three City-owned lots on Dalrymple and Boylston streets in Jamaica Plain will likely remain open space, according to Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) Director Evelyn Friedman. “The overwhelming response was for the sites to be used as open space,” Friedman said of the reaction at a community meeting held June 21 on proposals...

With many families still suffering effects from the Great Recession, the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) is rolling out the Family Prosperity Initiative, a program aimed at teaching families how to manage their finances. “There are a lot of JP families who are low-income and struggling,” said Anna Waldron, director of programs for...

CENTRAL JP—Q Salon opened its doors in late May at 676 Centre St., the space formerly occupied by Jamaicaway Books. Q Salon, named after owner Jennifer Lydon’s middle name and grandmother’s maiden name, Quinlan—“We were very close,” she said—is currently offering hair services. Nail services are expected to start next week and spa services...

The Casey Arborway Design Advisory Group should not become the Design Audience Group. MassDOT is presenting it with major project changes, but withholding for months the data to support some of those changes, ensuring that the DAG’s advice has been two steps behind. In March, MassDOT presented a Casey Arborway plan that expanded the...

Trading parking spaces for “parklets” is a good idea that likely will boost business, beautify streets, enliven our too-narrow sidewalks and literally curb our auto addiction. Whether a specific site is suitable for a parklet is a different question. It is good to hear that the City intends to hold community meetings about their...

The MBTA budget disaster has whacked JP. Low-income seniors, people with disabilities and new hotel guests are all feeling the impact. The less money you have, the more the fare hikes are biting you. And that’s just for this fiscal year. It all would have been worse if legislators hadn’t pulled off some budgetary...

I was pleased to see that our local state representatives are pushing to help get the contract between the Boston School Committee and the Boston Teachers Union resolved (“State reps. urge teacher contract resolution,” June 22). As a teacher, parent, Jamaica Plain resident and member of the BTU Negotiating Team, I share that goal....

MISSED CONNECTION You’re a white male, mid-20s. I saw you June 25 at 2:30. I was driving north on the Jamaicaway in a blue Toyota. You were driving north, too, zigging and zagging between cars, until you turned left at Longwood. You were riding a bike, wearing no helmet. I’m wondering if you have...

Having surveyed city youths about what they would like to see in a new after-school program, the Boston Public Library (BPL) is moving on to collect their parents’ and caregivers’ input through an online survey. “This is our current phase,” said BPL spokesperson Gina Perille. “It covers a couple of key areas of input.”...

The City and local nonprofits alike are praising a new system of tax-like payments that saw Faulkner Hospital make the first such payment ever and revealed a wealth of community benefits provided by Showa Boston Institute for Language and Culture. Those two nonprofits were the only ones in Jamaica Plain tapped to make the...

The State Ethics Commission (SEC) recently sent Maura Hennigan, clerk of the criminal division of the Suffolk County Superior Court, a letter stating it has opened a “preliminary inquiry” into an earlier campaign violation, according to Hennigan. The state Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) ruled in April that Hennigan had violated campaign...

Former City Councilor Chuck Turner was ousted from his position illegally in 2010, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) opined earlier this month. The June 15 opinion was requested by federal Judge Mark Wolf, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, who will make the final ruling, Chester Darling, Turner’s civil attorney,...